March 2011

March 31, 2011

Jason Terry ignited a serious confrontation that involved
many players and some coaches with 9;23 to go in the fourth quarter against the
Lakers at Staples Center.

Terry and Brendan Haywood have been suspended. Steve Blake
and Matt Barnes are gone for the Lakers.

At least it was a show of force by the Mavericks, which had
been missing in the last few minutes as they fell behind by 20 points.

Terry shoved Blake to the floor after getting called for a
foul on Blake’s drive to the basket.

From there, many players got physical with shoving and the
incident spilled into the Mavericks’ bench, where assistant coach Terry
Stotts had Barnes in a bear-hug, but Barnes quickly escaped, knocking Stotts backward.

If you think Dirk Nowitzki is a bit off lately, you may be
right. At the very least, one of his good friends thinks the Mavericks’
anchor is still favoring his right knee that he sprained back in December.

“I think he is hurting a little bit with his
knee,’’ Chris Kaman, Nowitzki’s teammate on the German
national team, told the Los Angeles Times after Wednesday’s 106-100
Mavericks’ win over the Clippers. “He’s trying to fight
through that and finish the season strong. He knows that. They need him and you
see what happens when he doesn’t play. They struggle.’’

To have Nowitzki at anything less than peak efficiency
tonight against the Lakers would be obvious bad news for the Mavericks.

Nowitzki’s usually money step-back jumper has been a
bit unreliable lately. Whether or not that’s attributable to an achy knee
is anyone’s guess. He has not missed any time because of it.

Meanwhile, J.J. Barea said he’s ready for the Lakers
tonight after coming off a 22-point night against the Clippers in which he
scored 16 points in the fourth quarter.

“I had two days off and my legs were feeling awesome
for the first time in a while,’’ he said.

Barea added that the Mavericks will have to play much better
than they did against the Clippers if they hope to spring an upset of the
Lakers tonight.

“We know we got to come out and play better, play 48
minutes,’’ he said. “We’ve won five in a row. It
hasn’t always been pretty, but we’re still winning.

“They play together and they’re going to be
good, no matter what. They’re just bigger. We just got to play harder,
and take care of the ball, and we’ll be fine.’’

The Mavericks have three 7-footers on their team and another
player who is a solid 6-11.

And they are going to be the small team on the court tonight
against the Lakers at Staples Center.

The Lakers almost always have the size advantage against
anybody, thanks to Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, both of whom are at least 7-feet
and in Bynum’s case, probably bigger.

But it’s not the biggest of the Lakers that give them
the decided advantage in the physicality department.

Their guards, along with small forward Ron Artest, are more
physical than just about anybody else’s smaller players.

Basically, the Lakers are bigger and stronger at every
position than the Mavericks are, with the possible exception of point guard.
But in that case, Jason Kidd doesn’t guard Derek Fisher. He’s
usually matched up against Ron Artest.

“You look at Kobe (Bryant) and Artest, big guys,
athletic and they know how to play,’’ Kidd said.
“They’re a big, long team, so we’re going to have our hands
full.’’

In the interior, it’s even worse. While everybody
equates the Lakers with Kobe, he’s not the thing that makes them unique.

“Playing against their big guys is a tough
challenge,’’ said Brendan Haywood, who had a solid night Wednesday
against the Clippers. “They have two of the best in the league in Gasol
and Bynum. And (Lamar) Odom, the way he’s played this year, has been
phenomenal. They have one of the most talented front lines in the league. We
have to try to rebound with them and be physical with them and hopefully give
our team the edge inside instead of letting them have it.’’

It’s the only way the Mavericks can hope to send any
kind of message tonight in the final regular-season meeting against the Lakers.

“(The Lakers) are a different kind of challenge,’’
said Rick Carlisle. “They’re a very difficult physical matchup for
every team that plays them. Our job is to make it be our kind of game.
That’s never easy to do, but it starts with efficiency with the ball. And
we have to play hard and smart.’’

March 30, 2011

Roddy Beaubois looks scrawny, although Rick Carlisle begs to
differ with that description.

“That’s a Sefko term, not a Carlisle
term,’’ he said.

OK, guilty on that one. But at the least, Beaubois is
slightly built. That’s part of what makes him really dangerous because
he’s quicker than just about everybody else in the NBA.

But he’s not stronger than just about everybody else.

The fact remains that Beaubois remains a target for other
teams when it comes to trying to overpower him when he’s trying to play
defense.

It doesn’t always work, primarily because Beaubois has
gotten stronger this year, gaining 10 or 15 pounds of muscle.

“If you put a picture of him a year and a half ago
next to a picture now, he would look a lot stronger,’’ Carlisle
said. “He’s gotten stronger. He does a lot better job of staying in
his stance (defensively). There were several situations the other night when he
got switched onto bigger guys and his added strength helps in those situations
where he has to fight big guys. He’s just getting a lot of different
types of important experience. He’s gaining ground all the
time.’’

Beaubois said he’s trying to learn and get better and
stronger all the time. But it’s a process. It’s not going to happen
overnight.

March 29, 2011

The Mavericks are on the practice court at U.S. Airways Center, having enjoyed a rare day on Monday when there was no basketball-related duties and no travel.

At least, most of the Mavericks enjoyed the day.

That was not the case for Jason Terry and J.J. Barea.

Terry left Phoenix for Seattle, where he attended the funeral service for an aunt that he was close to. Barea left for San Diego to tend to a family matter with an excused absence from the team.

Both players are expected to rejoin the team in Los Angeles for the Clippers' game Wednesday night.

Most of the Mavericks made use of Monday's free time in Phoenix by either playing golf or going to the Rangers' exhibition game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Scottsdale, Ariz. Several members of the organization did both.

March 28, 2011

For those who are wondering, if the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers finish the regular season tied for second place in the Western Conference, the Lakers would enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.

Why?

By NBA rules, if two teams are tied entering the playoffs, the team that won its division would grab the higher seed. In this case, the Lakers are the Pacific Division champs while the Mavs will finish the season in second place behind San Antonio in the Southwest Division.

As of now, the Lakers (53-20) lead the Mavs (52-21) by one game for the No. 2 seed. The two teams play each other Thursday in Los Angeles, one day after the Mavs play the Clippers in LA.

Looking for key indicators of the Mavericks’ success
can lead you in many different directions.

But if you’re looking for the definitive lucky charm,
go no further than Peja Stojakovic.

Since he became active on Feb. 7, the Mavericks have been
unbeatable when the 6-10 shooter plays 15 minutes or more. In those games, the
Mavericks are 15-0.

When he’s been injured or has played 14 or fewer
minutes, they are 2-6.

Of course there are mitigating factors in both sets of
numbers. But there can be no denying that Stojakovic’s presence on the
floor is a huge asset to the Mavericks, particularly when their offense is
wheezing as it has been the last few games. Since returning from a neck and
back issue, Stojakovic has hit 11-of-21 3-pointers to give the offense a little
extra punch.

Even though he’s only scored five points in each of
the first two games on this road trip, his contributions always seem to come at
timely moments.

And having that long-range shot in the arsenal is something
the Mavericks need going forward, because the offense isn’t going to come
any easier as the playoffs beckon.

He’s making $8 million this year because he can be a
leader and set his teammates up to be the best players possible.

When he gets 16 points, like he did on Sunday at Phoenix (with
eight of them coming early Monday morning, Dallas time, to win the game),
it’s an absolute bonus.

“This guy is a great winner,’’ coach Rick
Carlisle said. “When he steps on the floor, he’s going to do things
that help you win. Trying to quantify what stats are going to equal wins with
him, it just doesn’t work. Forget about scoring and shooting percentages
and all that stuff.’’

True that. Kidd has a strong passion for playing basketball
the right way. If the 3-point shot is wide-open, of course he’s going to
take it. He’s pretty good at that these days.

Beyond that, he’s going to run the team and set up his
buddies as best he can.

“My job is to set the table,’’ Kidd said
after his rapid-fire finish in Phoenix. “I could be selfish and shoot 10
or 15 times, and get my 12 or 15 points, but that’s not the makeup of
this team because we got too many guys who can score. My job is to knock down
open shots and get guys the ball and get them going.’’

The plain fact is that Kidd is every bit as valuable when he
gets double-figure assists as he is when he gets double-figure points.

The Mavericks are 19-5 when Kidd has double-figure assists.
They are 23-6 when he scores in double figures.

Not much difference there.

Basically, what it boils down to is that the Mavericks are
good when Kidd is good.

March 27, 2011

They had six turnovers and shot 5-of-25 in the first quarter
and somehow they have managed to stay within striking distance of the Suns
throughout the first half. There’s no real explanation. Dirk Nowitzki had
nine points and no other Maverick had more than six.

The Suns aren’t scoring much, at least not since a
26-point first quarter. But they are doing enough to stay in front of the
offensively challenged Mavericks.

This game is an assault on the senses. Of course, a lot of
playoff games are, too.

What the Mavericks have going for them is that the can’t
play much worse than they did in the first half. Remember, the Suns are not
renowned as a great defensive team, so there’s no reason to expect the
Mavericks to continue to shoot 32.6 percent from the field like they have in
the first 24 minutes.

This game bears a strong resemblance to last night’s
win at Utah.

It may or may not turn out that way for them, but they have
every opportunity to make it happen because they got out of a terrible half
without much damage.